


An Endless War

by OftheSea



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Angst, M/M, child abuse tw, violence tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 20:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7453270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OftheSea/pseuds/OftheSea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronan is sorry he did it but not sorry for what he said because he has been watching he has seen the scars he has seen the hurt he has seen this boy that he lov- this boy he can’t help but care about wither away and he can’t take it anymore. He can’t keep watching him die without even putting up a fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Endless War

Ronan always noticed the bruises. 

When Adam was young, he didn’t try and hide them. He fantasized about someone seeing them. They would swoop him up from the trailer park and save him from the dirt and the yelling and the pain. He used to think everything they did to him, everything they made him, could all be erased by someone taking him away from there. No one ever saw the bruises, or if they did they pretended not to see. It was all too messy, Adam couldn’t expect others to take that on. To take him on. 

He knows now it’s better for everyone if he just hides the bruises. Those that blossomed under his ribcage or crawled up his shoulders were simple to hide, but the time the fingerprints were too far up his neck or the cigarette burn was just below his wrist, he was dabbing on concealer or wearing hoodies in June. 

No one cared, no one even noticed. No one but Ronan. When it became more obvious, when Adam’s father realized that no one was ever going to notice, Gansey started his own “get Adam Parrish the fuck out of dodge” crusade, but it was Ronan who saw from the start. 

It’s the day after Ronan’s church visit at dawn, the day that Adam shows up to Monmouth with a black eye and a split lip that Ronan finally can’t hold it in anymore. 

“How long’s it gonna be before you do something about it, Parrish?” 

Ronan is lying on the hood of the pig, hands behind his head, feet dangling just above the concrete. He does not even look at Adam, who has just finished chaining his bike to the chainlink fence beside Ronan’s place of leisure, when he says it. It is only the use of Adams’s last name that lets him know he is being addressed. 

Adam straightens, hikes his school bag higher up on his shoulder, and walks past Ronan towards the building’s front door. 

“Nothing to be done.” 

He does not look at Ronan while he says it, just keeps walking. 

Ronan scoffs and sits up, “Like hell! Kicking that fucker you call a father’s ass, that’s what’s to be done.” 

Adam falters. His hand grips at the strap of his bag and he looks down at his shoes. They’re scuffed all over and a size too big. He only accepted them from Gansey because he was going to throw them out. He thinks about that word, father. What a funny concept. He thinks about Ronan’s father and Gansey’s father and then his own. It doesn’t seem to fit right on his “father”. 

Adam looks back at Ronan. He shakes his head. No. He can’t. Couldn’t. Won’t. He keeps walking. 

Ronan hops off the car. He is following close behind Adam now. 

“What, you’re just gonna let him keep beating the shit out of you? Is that the plan, Parrish? Just let him do whatever he wants with you? Just sit there quietly and let him kill you?” Before Ronan can stop himself he is shoving Adam’s back. It is with more force then he intended and Adam stumbles forward, tripping over his own feet. Ronan is sorry he did it but not sorry for what he said because he has been watching he has seen the scars he has seen the hurt he has seen this boy that he lov- this boy he can’t help but care about wither away and he can’t take it anymore. He can’t keep watching him die without even putting up a fight. 

So he shoves him again. And again. And again. He pushes him until his back is against the wall and Ronan is inches away from his face and Adam is trembling and Ronan is punching the wall beside Adam’s head and he’s screaming “Fight me! For fuck’s sake Adam, just for once fight back!” 

And then Ronan is on the ground. Because Adams is good and Adam is patient and Adam is fair but Adam has a war living in his veins and Ronan is begging him to let it out. 

Adam turns to the wall and hits. He punches solid concrete once twice right left left right because he wants to hit Ronan he wants to show him just how easy it would be to fight back but that would mean hurting him it would mean damaging him it would mean changing him forever it would turn Adam into him into his father into the man that he knew he was too capable of becoming. 

It is only Ronan’s arms, pulling at Adam’s shoulders, dragging him away from the wall that halts his assault. Adam struggles against him because this battle is far from over and they stumble backwards. Adam lands on his side, the gravel of the pavement scraping his already marred appearance. Ronan’s arm is still around him. Adam does not move. Ronan does not move. They just lie there, together. 

Two soldiers, lying together, entwined on the battlefield of an endless war.

**Author's Note:**

> written for a tumblr dialogue prompt: "Fight me then."  
> my tumblr: firefranky.tumblr.com


End file.
